Cotton-chopper.



T. M. BRADSHAW. coTToN cHolPPEH.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 4. 1915.

1,197,708. i l Patented sept. 12,1916.

-2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

IHIHMHIII IIHIIHU T. IvI. BRAnsII/Iw.

COTTON CHOP'PvER. APPLICATION FILED No.4, 19415.

1 1 97,708 Patented'Sept. 12, 1916.

2 SHEETS- SHEET 2.

B PQ-SHOIUJ THOMAS M. BRADSHAW, OF MANGUM, OKLAHOMA.

COTTON-CHOPPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

Application filed December 4, 1915. Serial No. 65,052.

T0 all whom t may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS M. BRAD- snnw, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mangum, in the county of Greer and State of Oklahoma, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cotton- Choppers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in cotton chopping machines and the object is to provide a device of this character having its cutting member mounted and actuated ina novel and eflicient manner.

A further object is to provide a transmission mechanism to actuatethe cutting member and to provide a mechanism to elevate the cutting member.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of means for guiding the machine.

A vstill further Object is to provide a device of the character described that will be strong, durable, efficientv and simple and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture and also one in which the several parts will not be likely to get out of working order.

With the above and other objects in view, the linvention has lrelation to lcertain novel features of construction and operation, an example of which is described in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings. v

Figure 1 is a top plan view of my improved cotton chopper with the seat removed. F ig. 2 is a side view thereof. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 with the tongue actuating lever removed.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate similarparts in the several figures, the numeral 1, denotes the axle of my improved cotton chopper and ,2, the vtransporting and driving wheels, the said axle and wheels being connected together in `any suitable manner. Between the wheels 2, there is secured to the axle 1 the frame 3, substantially U-shaped in form and opening forwardly; the parallel members 4, of the frame at the -open end thereof, are pivotally secured to the triangular draw bars 5,

by means of bolts 6. The triangular draw bars 5, at their apex portions are bent around bolts 7, by means' of which they are secured to the plates 8, only the upper of which is shown in Fig. 1. The inner legs 9, of the draw bars 5 are secured to the cross bar 19, in any appropriate manner.

Pivotally mounted between the plates 8, on the bolt 10, is the pole 11, having a bearing roller 12 mounted in the inner end thereof, and which is adapted to operate -between the inner surfaces of the double bearing bar 13, the latter being connected at its ends, to the inner legs 9, of the triangular bars 5. An'inner frame 14, substantially rectangular in shape is formed with parallel side bars 15 and 16, which are connected by the end bars 17 and 18. The outer end of the inner frame 14, is pivotally mounted on the bolts 6, of the main frameand the said inner frame 14, is secured to the inner face of the cross bar 19. The opposite ends of the cross bar 19,'are bent at rightrangles and the bent portions 20, are secured to the outer legs 21 of the triangular draw bars 5, while ,the inner legs 9, Y'of the draw bars 5 are secured to the outer face of the said cross bar 19. By this construction, it is readily seen, that the inner frame 14,\cross bar 19, the triangular draw bars 5, and the pole 11, are pivotally mounted on the bolts 6,-of the main frame 4.

The inner frame 14, is supported at its free end, by the rocker shaft member 22, journaled in the standard 23, supported upon the axle 1 and having a bracing arm which is secured to the rear end bar of the Vmatin frame. The rocker shaft 22, is formed at its inner end with a bell crank arm 24,

.which is hingedly attached to the ears 25, on the cross bar 1T, of the inner frame by the link 25. The opposite end 0f the rocker shaft22, Vis bent at right angles in a vertical plane to form the lever 26, which carriesa spring actuated latch 27, adapted for engagement with the teeth of the segmental vrack bar 28, the latter being secured to one of the side members 4 of the main frame. By actuating the lever 26, the inner frame 14, is raised and lowered and is held in adjusted position by the rack bar 28 and latch 2T. The inner frame carries the chopping mechanism which will now be fully described.

rAdjacent the yrear free end of the inner frame, is mounted the transverse shaft 29, being journaled in the side bars 15 and 16, and having slight longitudinal movement therein, its ends projecting outwardly beyond the said side bars. One end of shaft 29 carries a sprocket wheel 30, over which runs a chain 31, which likewise is connected with the sprocket wheel 32, on the axle 1.

Fixedly mounted on shaft 29 and revolving therewith is the gear 33, which is adapted to be thrown into or out of mesh with the gear 34, of the longitudinal shaft 35 in accordance with the movement of the shaft 29, to be hereinafter described. Shaft 35 is positioned approximately centrally and longitudinally within the inner frame 14, and is journaled at one end in a cross bar 36, and at its opposite end in the end bar 18 of the said frame. The shaft 35, is formed with a crank 37, the wrist of which is secured to the hoe bar 38, by means of the bolts 39.

The cutting hoe 40, is secured to the hoe bar 38, at 41, and the opposite end of the hoe bar is loosely connected to the lower end of the swinging link 42, which in turn is connected at its upper end to the lug 43, on the sidebar 16 of the inner frame. The hoe 40 is disposed at an angle so that its cutting edge 44, is positioned forwardly of the point of connection between said hoe and hoe bar 38, and when the shaft 35, is actuated a quick sharp motion is imparted to the hoe 40, causing the severing of the cotton plants beneath the ground in substantially the same way as could be accomplished by a hand spade or hoe.

Gear 33, upon the shaft 29 is normally tensioned into meshing union with gear 34, by the spring 45, which is coiled around shaft 29, between the said gear and the side bar 15 of the inner frame, and a lever 46, is secured to the other end of shaft 29 and carries a button 47, adapted for engagement with the side bar 15, for moving shaft 29 and gear 33 in one direction when the gear 33, is moved out ofmeshing engagement with gear 34 and against the tension of the spring 45. The lever' 46, is provided with a handle 48, by which it is actuated. A button 49 is mounted on the side bar 15, and engages the outer end of the lever 46, to assist the lever 46 in holding shaft 29 outwardly and gear 33 against the tension of the spring 45, when the gears 33 and 34, are thrown out of mesh. Vhen the handle 48, is actuated to move the button 47, from in contact with the side bar 15, and the end of bar 46 out of contact with the button 49, the shaft 29 is moved in the opposite direction through the medium of the gear 33, which is tensioned into engagement with gear 34, by the spring 45, and motion is thereby transmitted to the shaft 35, and hoe 40.

The machine is guided by means of the lever 50, which is secured to the bar 51, connected to the plates 8 and to the pole 11, by the bolts 10 and 52 respectively.

A latch member 53, is secured to the rod 54, which in turn is secured to rod 55, and the latter is secured to the hand grip lever 56 on the vertical lever 50.

A segmental rack bar 57, is secured to the forward bar 19, and is formed with teeth 58, which latter are engaged by the latch teeth, so that the bar 51, is held in its adjusted position. By this means the machine is guided along the rows of cotton plants and also assists in the turning operation at the ends of the rows.

Suitably secured upon the standard 23 is the lower end of the seat bar 59, upon the upper end of which is the seat 60.

It is obvious that by my improved construction and by positioning the cutting hoe on the crank, only alternate patches of cotton plants will be cut or dug, for the reason that during the revolution of the shaft 35, the machine is advancing over plants, when the cutting hoe is elevated; therefore the plants remaining after the cutting operation are properly spaced.

In operation the machine is positioned over the row of plants with the inner frame 14, elevated by means of actuating lever 26, and the bar 51, is adjusted to central position, so as to guide the machine directly over the row. The inner frame is then lowered by moving the lever 26 forwardly and by pulling the lever 46, upright, causes the spring 45 to expand and advance the gear 33 into meshing engagement with gear 34. The machine is now started andthe shaft 35 is actuated and with it the crank 37 and hoe 40 for chopping the plants. 105

It will thus be seen that by the use of a machine of this nature much time and labor will be saved and the device drawn by horses will cover a large area of land and cut out great quantities of plants, meanwhile leaving the remaining plants in proper spaced relation.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the advantages of the construction and the method of operation will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains, and while I have described the principle of the invention, together with the device which I now consider to be the embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that the device shown is merely illustrative, and that such changes may be made when desired as are within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

1. A cotton chopper comprising a wheeled frame, an aXle in said wheeled frame, an

inner frame having its forward end pivotally connected to the forward end of'said Wheeled frame, a longitudinal crank shaft mounted in said inner frame for operating a horizontal transverse hoe bar and provided with a gear wheel upon its rear end, a transverse drive shaft revolubly and slidably mounted in the rear end portion of said inner frame parallel with said axle, a gear wheel upon said transverse drive shaft and movable therewith, driving connections between one end of said transverse drive shaft and said axle, and means upon the opposite end of said transverse drive shaft for moving said transverse drive shaft for throwing said gear wheels into and out of mesh.

2. A cotton chopper comprising a wheeled frame, an inner frame carrying chopping mechanism, means for operating said chopping mechanism, a draft frame secured to the forward end of said inner frame, a

.tongue pivotallyl mounted in said draft frame, said inner frame, said draft frame, and said tongue being pivotally mounted in the forward end of said wheeled frame and having conjoint movement with respect to said wheeled frame, means to effect such movement, a rack bar upon said draft frame, a bar pivotally7 mounted upon said draft frame and having one end secured to said tongue, a lever upon the opposite end of said bar for swinging said tongue laterally with respect to said frames for guiding the machine, and a latch mechanism for engaging said rack bar for retaining said tongue in its adjusted positions.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

THOMAS M. BRADsHAw.

Witnesses:

W. C. TERRY, F. H. SHEARER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

